Abkhazian opposition leader Ardzinba detained at Russian border

Abkhazian opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba was detained at the Psou border checkpoint in Russia on 20 April while returning back to Abkhazia, Telegram channels reported.

The opposition organisation Aruaa, which backs Ardzinba, quickly condemned his detention.

‘We regard such actions as politically motivated pressure on an opposition figure, which indicates a deliberate attempt to destabilise the socio-political situation in Abkhazia’, Aruua said.

The organisation also demanded that President Badra Gunba immediately respond to the reported politically motivated persecution of Abkhazians, end pressure and intimidation campaigns, and ensure the constitutional rights of all Abkhazians, regardless of their political beliefs. The demands were in connection to both Ardzinba’s border detention and the wider phenomenon of other opposition figures experiencing problems at the Abkhazian border.

Previously, opposition figures have also had their Russian citizenship revoked, effectively preventing them from leaving Abkhazia, as few countries recognise the Abkhazian passport and there are no international flights out of Abkhazia.

One opposition member recounted their recent experiences at the Russian border, which they said could last anywhere from one to three and a half hours. ‘They ask about where I am going and to whom, who I am going to meet, what kind education I have, what languages I know, which politicians I support, why I am against the initiatives of the current government, and everything like that. They also sometimes ask to show correspondence on the phone, enter some keywords in the search engines of messengers, but I do not know which ones. They write down the serial number of the phone and some codes’, one opposition member told OC Media on the condition of anonymity.

OC Media has not learned what Ardzinba was asked when he was detained at the border, as he has not made any public comments or statements. The opposition party Forum of People's Unity, which Ardinba represented in the presidential election earlier this year, has demanded an explanation from the authorities as to why citizens are still being persecuted for political reasons.

‘After the presidential elections, which further deepened the split in society, it would be logical to expect the authorities of Abkhazia to take steps aimed at mitigating the consequences of the policy of dividing citizens into “us” and “them”. However, reality shows the opposite. The notorious practice of persecution and pressure on dissidents continues. The labels of “foreign agents” are returning, far-fetched accusations are being made against true patriots of Abkhazia — only for their political position’, the party’s statement read.

In the statement, party members also appealed to Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of Russia’s Presidential Administration, to help resolve the situation.

Kiriyenko, who was born in Abkhazia during Soviet times, has been the primary Kremlin interlocutor with Abkhazia in recent years.

‘We are convinced that the initiators of such provocative and humiliating events on the border are causing reputational and political damage not only to Abkhazia, but also to interaction with Russia. We appeal to the respected […] Kiriyenko, who coordinates interaction between [Russia and Abkhazia], with a request to take personal control of these facts and initiate an investigation into the actions of officials who allow a biased attitude towards Abkhazian politicians’, the statement read.

Aslan Kobakhia, a war veteran, a former MP and the current Interior Minister, is the only sitting politician to have condemned what happened to Adgur Ardzinba. According to Kobakhia, the detention of oppositionists and the persecution of the population for political reasons is an external initiative, and it aggravates the difficult situation in Abkhazia and increases the split in society.

‘Someday the Kremlin will understand that roughly dividing Abkhaz society into us and them is a strategic mistake. There are no anti-Russian forces in Abkhazia, by definition there cannot be any’, he wrote on his Facebook page. He added that even despite what he characterised as an obvious anti-Abkhaz policy in the Kremlin in the 1990s, Abkhazia still did not turn away from Russia.

‘How much fortitude our citizens showed until the Kremlin realized that the Abkhazians are good, grateful neighbors. One must be so short-sighted to carry out acts of mockery at the Psou checkpoint against one of the leaders of the Abkhazian people, Adgur Ardzinba’, Kobakhia wrote.

There was no reaction from the Abkhazian authorities. But members of the veterans’ organisation stated that they reserve the right to hold peaceful protests.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

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